Goats come to hunting seasonally - in spring and autumn. If a goat is nearby, then the hunt ends in pregnancy. Determining the gestational age for goats is not easy, especially for beginners who are just starting to keep these animals. Even experienced breeders cannot always tell for sure whether a goat is pregnant or not. Although once our ancestors managed to determine the result of mating.
Pregnancy
Usually a goat's pregnancy lasts about 150 days or 5 months. For this period, it is necessary to provide special care for the animals, pay attention to nutrition.
Sometimes goats develop a false pregnancy. In order to identify it in time, it is necessary to conduct a test that will help determine if the goat is pregnant. It is especially important to carry it out at first-runners, as well as inexperienced breeders.
After the pregnancy is confirmed, the goat is launched - this is the period when the animal should not be milked.
Determination methods
There are several methods for determining pregnancy in goats. If there was a mating, then after it you can try to determine the gestational age for goats. Our grandmothers also used the method of determination by milk. To do this, take a glass of water and milk: a few drops are dripped into the water and watch how it behaves. If the drops sink to the bottom, then this may indicate pregnancy.
Using this method, it is possible to determine the result of mating during the gestation period for goats for at least two months. In cases where milk dissolves in water and its color turns white, this indicates that the goat is empty.
It is not always possible to determine pregnancy by milk. Therefore, it is worth using an additionally different method. After three weeks from the moment of mating, the goat is brought to the goat and its behavior is monitored. If she does not show interest in him, then you can prepare for a replenishment.
Some livestock farmers determine the gestational age of goats by the rectal method, that is, they try to probe the pelvic artery through the rectum.
The disadvantage of this method is that it can be used only from the age of three months, when visible signs are already present.
The rectal examination algorithm is as follows:
- To determine the presence and duration of pregnancy in sheep and goats, a finger is inserted into the rectum to the full depth.
- Then in the direction of 11 and 13 hours you need to grope the uterine artery. She nourishes the genitals with blood. The longer the gestation period, the stronger the blood flow goes through the vessel. If it is well palpable, then this indicates the pregnancy of the animal and a period of more than 3 months.
To determine the gestational age of goats, a palpation method is also used. The most accurate results are obtained for a period of more than three months. There is a scar in the goat’s left abdomen, and the uterus gradually fills the right side. The palpation method is carried out in the morning, before feeding. On the right, they try to probe the kids: during pregnancy, legs and other parts of the body are felt. With the ability to work with a phonendoscope, you can try to hear the heartbeat of a kid.
During an attempt to palpate, the goats strain their abdominal muscles. To relax, they gather a fold at the withers of the goat.
Animal watching
If you constantly monitor the animal, then you can determine the gestational age of the goat by changing behavior, as well as using different methods. To begin with, it is worth bringing the animal back to the goat. This is the most affordable method for determining pregnancy in the early stages. If the goat walked with the goat in the herd, then it will be difficult to identify it.
When observing an animal, you can see how the appearance of the external genitalia changes. Experienced breeders immediately manage to see the change and say whether the goat is pregnant or not.
Upon examination, pay attention to the condition of the loop: the wrinkles are smoothed out, the skin becomes smooth, smooth, slightly swollen. The closer to childbirth, the greater the swelling.
With the development of pregnancy, the stomach of a goat increases: it is distributed down and to the sides.
Another sign of pregnancy is sipping. The animal begins to stretch like a cat, and from a month on. This action helps prepare the body for the upcoming birth, stretch the spine.
In late pregnancy, milk yield decreases. The amount of milk decreases during the hunt, but after it the milk yield returns. Closer to lambing, they again decrease. From this moment, the animal is launched: it ceases to be milked.
To find out the gestational age of the first-born goat and not only, ultrasound is used. It allows you to determine pregnancy at any time, even at the smallest.
Goat launch
Different goats run differently. Some people themselves begin to reduce milk yield, and a month before lambing they will cease to give milk at all. This is usually observed in low-goat goats and those with poor diets.
Multiple pregnancy can affect the quick start of a goat. During it, the animal’s body, saving itself and the kids, stops the production of milk, directing all internal resources to the development of the fruit. At such times, it is important to provide the animal with a good diet.
During pregnancy, high-yield goats, which are kept on a rich diet, use the forced-launch method. To do this, from the third month they gradually reduce the amount of succulent feed, grain and mixed feed, as these species contribute to the production of milk. From this moment, the amount of milk is gradually reduced by reducing the number of milkings and milk taken. First, the goat is milked three times a day, slightly reducing the amount of milk taken, and then they switch to a two-time milking. At this point, the milk should be in the udder no more than 1.5 liters. You can not massage the udder, iron, as this helps to increase milk production.
After the daily milk yield does not exceed 2 liters, they switch to a ragged type of milking. It consists in the following: a couple of days a goat is milked normally, but once a day, and then between milking time increases, shifting it for several hours. As a result, it turns out that the goat is milked not once a day, but once every 1.5-3 days.
After starting the goat, be sure to conduct a daily inspection of the udder - it should be empty. A couple of weeks before lambing, the udder begins to swell in the animal, colostrum gathers in it. This is a very active and nutritious product that allows you to build strong immunity in the kids and allows them to develop rapidly. First, colostrum is yellow, thick, then it becomes more liquid and light.
Power Features
Knowing how long a goat’s pregnancy lasts, and when it has come, they change their diet. Juicy feed is removed from it, but the hay should be in the feeder constantly. If the goat is milked, and the amount of milk is reduced by itself, then this indicates a proper diet.
It so happens that after winter lambing, the goat comes into the hunt again and is covered. In this case, pregnancy occurs during the grazing season. With this option, the launch is not performed, but the goat is milked as usual. Low-goat goats themselves can start even in the summer.
Features of carrying
But can a goat change the gestational age and how many days? Yes, a goat can move around. Usually the gestation period of a goat in days is 140-160 days, on average - 150. But this is according to the textbooks, but in practice it is somewhat different. Animals can move around or give birth 5-10 days ahead of schedule. It depends not only on the diet, living conditions, but also on the number of fruits, lambing period. So, in autumn lambing, the period is reduced, and in spring, it can increase. This is due to lack of nutrition, lack of sunlight, movement, cold weather. For the animal, daily walks are important. With a lack of movement, the gestational age shifts upward, pathologies in the postpartum period may develop.
The goat is rejoining. Causes
A goat can pass pregnancy due to a violation of the diet. If in the first half of the kitten the animal does not need a major change in the diet, then from the second half it needs a lot of energy and nutrients, and because of their shortcomings, the deficit is filled from the reserves of the mother, which greatly depletes it. This condition can negatively affect both babies and an adult animal, and in some cases causes a miscarriage.
Harbingers of Childbirth
Knowing when the mating happened and how long the goat is pregnant, you can calculate the approximate lambing date, plus or minus 5-10 days. The fact that the babies will appear soon is indicated by the ongoing changes in the appearance of the goat, its behavior.
Two days before lambing, the pelvis of the animal turns into a generic one. This is due to the relaxation of the ligamentous apparatus - lengthened and become more loose tendons. Throughout pregnancy, the sciatic ligament is solid, dense, with pressure does not change. But before lambing, it is easy to capture, take it aside. In some animals, it changes a few weeks before lambing.
The appearance of the external genitalia is changing. The labia become swollen, enlarged. The uterine cork begins to liquefy and comes out in the form of drops on the tail. The goat begins colostrum production. In primary cattle, it can begin to be produced immediately after lambing.
Before birth, the cork is secreted from the uterus, and after a while, the birth process itself begins.
Help with lambing
Harbingers of childbirth can occur at different times. A month before lambing, the abdomen greatly increases, and in a week it sags. At the same time, colostrum begins to arrive. Before the birth itself, a uterine cork comes out. If, after 1-2 hours after this, contractions and attempts do not begin, then this indicates a weak labor activity. To stimulate muscle tone, an animal is injected intramuscularly with 10 units of “Oxytocin” or another stimulant in accordance with its instructions.
If the kid does not come out, he will have to help by pulling his paws a little, holding his head (the kids are born forward with legs and head). Sometimes, in the wrong position, the kids are born forward with their hind legs and tail. In any case, it is necessary to watch so that the legs do not tuck up - they go forward with their hooves, and so that the goat can push the fetus out. If she cannot give birth herself, then you have to help by pulling the kid: you need to pull only during the fight, and at its end, stop, waiting for the next one. Usually, the goat goes out for 3-5 contractions. The umbilical cord is cut with sterile scissors, treated with brilliant green. The kid is wiped and given to the goat.
Birth complications
There are situations when a goat has complications during childbirth. In such situations, the help of a veterinarian is needed. In isolated cases, the doctor makes a cesarean section, pulling out the kids. In practice, such operations are rarely performed, as they are expensive. Usually, breeders themselves try to save the kids.
Conclusion
With the right diet, good conditions, pregnancy is easy and without any complications. The main thing is to monitor the animals, diversify the diet, monitor the quality of the feed given.
Typically, goats give birth themselves without assistance, and most often they do this in the absence of people. The freshmen must be watched especially carefully, since they most often have complications and they need human help.